Who was the villainous pirate Ed Teache known by the name of Blackbeard?

Have you heard folklore tales about Blackbeard and about the tunnel that extended from a New Bern home near the neuse river purported to have been the pirate’s quick get-away, his escape from capture? we have heard many tales about the pirate for more than half a century. We believe once you’ve acquainted yourselves with the pirate character and the many folklore tales, your curiosity will also be excited about the pirate Blackbeard. Where did he come from?   

Who was this pirate so commonplace to New Bern and eastern North Carolina?  

Today, we reminisce about the folklore tales once given us, sitting breathlessly, indulging in the legendary tales about Blackbeard and the pirate’s clandestine association with New Bern. Inquisitively, the pirate Blackbeard is not a part of the historic town’s antiquity and we begin to earnestly question the credibility of the early occasioned folklore.

Why would the pirate character with an incredible, distinctive style of a Robin Hood be quashed from New Bern's historic archive? These curious queries raised other questions. has New Bern’s history been savored to appease the charming grandeur of this southern town by discretely removing conceivable realities, yet inauspicious behavior; thus removing some episodes of well founded candor from the historic town’s marvelous archive?

This writing became an adventure as we scrutinize the past to ascertain the answers for the questionable and intriguing times gone by; We have researched the many valid questions concerning the history of New Bern, and would like to introduce you to some of the imperfect accounts of its colonial archive. 

You’ll discover facts to arbiter these questions and many more using knowledge about New Bern’s history. The reader will be introduced to New Bern’s pirates and politicians: the politicians, took everything the pirate’s people owned.

The Pirate Titschke (Teache, Thatch) did his best to preserve a people, sustaining their tenuous lives in the new country.

The authors compiled some family history into a brief book named, amongst the first to our shore: pirates and politicians.

The brief family narrative was sent to us by Richard’s great aunt, Emily Boney Bell. aunt Emily worked tirelessly over many years researching our Boni (Boney) family’s Swiss ancestors and during the research one day she shared with dad that she had found a darn pirate.

Aunt Emily surely did not realize that her historic unfolding would begin in New Bern, with De-Graffenreid’s venture which settled a little German colony, 1710.

We have now verified aunt Emily’s historic unfolding, which identifies the family’s German ancestral connection who was also associated with De Graffenried’s colony at New Bern.

His name was John Edward Titschke (Teache), who arrived in the new country with baronet Christopher Von De Graffenreid’s colony of German refugees who founded our grand old town, originally known by the name, “the little German town”.   Titschke (Teache) was undoubtedly the brute blacksmith from the German colony that the baron De-Graffenreid described in his personal bibliography.

The immigrant Palatine people, both German and Swiss, were truly the human foundation of the De Graffenreid venture which is credited with the early bond of the town, "Chattooka”. Chattooka was the name given to New Bern by the local indians who had inhabited the land long before De Graffenreid’s colony of German and Swiss settlers landed here.

Diverse accounts, recent and old, have been written by historians, scholars, and professional writers alike concerning the pilfering deeds committed by the, so called, brute Titschke (Teache). These accounts have been perplexing readers for over two centuries. to our knowledge, no positive account has ever been written with conclusive facts verifying the true identity of the pirate, Blackbeard.

Most accounts have generally concurred he arrived here from Bristol, Eengland and was related to the Drummond family, which proved only to be a myth. the vague, unfounded, and concurring declaration about Blackbeard’s identity protects those ignorant of the real history of the little German colony and De Graffenreid's bibliography expounding upon the predicaments that befell the German and Swiss Palatine settlers who breathed early life to New Bern’s fledgling beginning. 

 The families of Titschke (Teache, thatch), Peter Jacob Ruhl (Reel), John Randolph Fisher and John Michael Giessiebel (Kissiebel) inter-married with other German Palatine families and are accounted for in the third group of Palatines who arrived in England from the Netherlands on June 9, 1709.  All of the above families are categorically identified in the remnants of De Graffenreid’s New Bern German colony and early craven county archive.

Through events in history we have confirmed our initial beliefs about John Edward Titschke's (Teache) true character. Ancient and incredible accounts without merit throughout history offer impressions of a malevolent, vicious criminal; however, Titschke (Teache), the real person and pirate, carried on a daily life with activities similar to our own.

Titschke socialized the province as if he were immune to the portrayals of repudiating wickedness which characterized the pirate.

The fictional character was merely a  mythical label which historians have purveyed in identifying the pirate throughout the colonial period and to date in our historic chronicle, having been taught for over two centuries in North Carolina’s history curriculum. We have been unable to confirm most of the recorded events about the mischievous deeds and crimes purportedly committed by the pirate, Blackbeard. The research confirms most of the recorded events simply conflict with the obvious facts about the pirate.

Factually Titschke (Teache, thatch) was a native New Bernian and did arrive here with the baron's colony of German Palatines. Titschke's (Teache, Thatch) name appeared in the historic debarkation archive in Europe and also appears in the early North Carolina archive. 

With the collapse of the German colony the Baron von De-Graffenreid returned to Europe and Titschke (Teache, thatch) would eventually relocate his main harbor to Bath town, NC. His mooring in Bath town, North Carolina lay just across the sound from the province’s governor, the honorable Charles Eden. 

Diverse historic records have suggested a collusion or alliance between the province governor, through his loyal secretary, Tobias Knight and John Edward Titschke (Teache, Thatch). Because of their friendship, accusations alarmed the province and left inquisitive implications inducing repudiation among the royal governor’s peers.

Governor Eden’s office was debased primarily because of his close alliance with John Edward Titschke (Teache, thatch), the province’s colorful pirate and historians were not very kind to the good governor’s benefaction, nor that of his secretary, Tobias Knight.

Colonel Edward Moseley, in his trial for treason and high crimes, challenged royal Governor Eden while in court chamber, staring at the good governor, conspicuously, eye to eye, chiding him with awesome consternation, "it is like yea commands of a German prince"! (ref. Edward Moseley Trial). Did this inference insinuate that governor Charles Eden was under the dictates of Titschke (Teache, Thatch), the pirate?

Did Governor Eden’s conduct induce his own political ruin with his suspected controversial alliance with the pirate John Edward Titschke (Teache, Thatch), Blackbeard, which would delineate Governor Eden’s public eminence within the province thus uniquely structuring the governor's tenuous legacy in the state's archive?

Titschke (Teache, Thatch) surrendered to Governor Eden and received a pardon for the crimes of piracy he had committed, only to be cast out and assassinated in a conspired scheme between Virginian Governor Spotswood, Colonel's Moseley and Moore of North Carolina province and the English Commonwealth.

It was an immoral scheme to take Titschke’s (Teache, Thatch) life while he and his loyal crew and mates were under a disingenuous mantle of freedom afforded them by the English crown’s mandated pardon to the province's pirates in an effort to suppress piracy in the colony.  Titschke (Teache, thatch) had received a complete pardon which was conveyed to him and his entire crew by decree in accordance with the commonwealth’s dictates to the province’s government.

Spotswood, Governor of Virginia, later advertised a bounty for the head of the pirate Titschke (Teache, Thatch), to take the pirate either dead or alive, knowing Titschke and his entire crew had previously surrendered to North Carolina's Governor Eden and chief justice, Tobias Knight under the terms of the crown's pardon for pirates.

Titschke (Teache, thatch) was devotedly attached to his beloved native German people; offering the rejected people humane, generous, and loyal deeds of love and affection. because of the failed German colony, its inhabitants lost everything they owned at the hands of the warring Tuscarora tribes and afterwards by the naughty deeds of the province’s politicians. Many of the German Palatines were indeed left destitute for almost forty years without restitution for their lamentable struggles.

Why was Titschke’s (Teache, Thatch) prized flagship named "Queen Anne’s Revenge"? Was the name of his flag ship an emblematic  Declaration to the British crown about the intolerable hardships the settlers of the failed De-Graffenreid colony had endured?  

Was the flagship’s name an emblematic symbol decrying the plight of the German Palatines being forced to give up their homes, lands and meager possessions because Baron Von De-Graffenreid mortgaged everything to Colonel Thomas Pollock in his attempt to preserve the fledgling colony.

Some of the Palatine people fell into bondage or merely Colonel Pollock’s plantation slaves for many years, mere squatters, tenants upon the land they had harnessed with their sweat and blood to domesticate.

This was the land that had been given to them by decree from the gracious Queen Anne of England prior to their embarkation to the new country. the land they believed to be their land until forced from it by the politician’s family in closing Colonel Thomas Pollock’s worldly estate. Yes, the unbearable exploitation of the German Palatine refugees gave birth and symbolized Blackbeard’s public anguish, hence the naming of his triumphant flagship, Queen Anne’s revenge?

Many indigent German and Swiss Palatines lost everything they owned which they had labored many years to achieve due to the mischievous behavior of the province’s corrupt politicians.

The Palatine people who settled the German colony, with few exceptions, were obedient, self sustaining, talented and industrious people. they were the best people Europe could have offered the new world. they were real founding fathers forging ahead making their admirable contributions and legacy in the history of the tar heel state and the grand, historic old town, New Bern. Tey were working in concert with the other colonies building the great nation we would call America. a nation that cherishes its freedoms and recognizes these freedoms are a creation of the many brave immigrants that have made it all possible.  

The North Carolina historic commission marker erected near the Neuse river on front street affirms "Citizens of Bern Switzerland, landing here with Swiss and Palatines, founded New Bern, 1710". That particular epic marker is corroborated in the chronicles as being correct, but not exactly accurate. Truly, the baron’s New Bern colony of German and Swiss refugees were all intrinsic New Bernians. Four of them were the authors seventh great grandparents. We are proud of our heritage, especially exuberant about the ancestor who left so many legendary tales with reference to his many accomplishments.

The pirate Titschke (Teache) provided for their food and clothing needs and he also acquired the other necessary provisions, by pillaging essentials for the little German colony’s widows, orphaned children and decrepit men and women to sustain their lives in the uncivilized province of North Carolina.   The complete writing is the incredible story concerning Blackbeard who actually was the Robin Hood for De Graffenreid’s abandoned New Bern colony.  

John Edward Titschke (Teache) left two distinct families in North Carolina with two very distinct names. the name Titschke (Teache, teach, Teachey, Tetchey, Teachie and Thatch .)

The latter name was derived from Colonel Edward Moseley who referred to the pirate as Edward Thatch and Titschke's (Teache's Thatch's) young bride, Mary Ormond, named their first and only child John Thatch after his father John Edward Titschke (Thatch). We differentiate the Thatch name as the Colonel Edward Moseley's name for the pirate Titschke (Teache). Thatch (Titschke) didn't live to see his new bride another time nor his young son John Thatch.

The name Thatch did disseminate over the centuries, it is a sparse name, but was a prevalent name in early eastern North Carolina and lower Virginia. 

It appears the infamous pirate was overlooked in all past accounts of New Bern’s famed history. It would also appear Blackbeard was probably the most notable of all the town’s founding fathers and with the complete record having now been frankly told, the name Titschke (Teache, Thatch) was probably omitted from the archives by design. When we first initiated this endeavor, we accepted some good advice from a highly recognized historian, in keeping with that guidance: "Tell it like it was",

This is the way we interpreted the findings of New Bern’s historic olden days. “This is the way it was”.

Titschke (Teache) did experience, as all indigenous New Bernians, the anguish, betrayals and suffering experienced by the original German and Swiss settlers of New Bern. Actually the famous pirate, John Edward Titschke (Teache, Thatch) became the sole proprietor and willingly accepted the responsibility for the early New Bern emigrant's survival in the defunct De Graffenreid colony. Have the politicians changed their behavior since they took the life of the beard?

Will Titschke (Teache, Thatch), the state’s notorious pirate, Blackbeard, someday be kindly remembered, belated and without fanfare as a favored son? That is highly ambiguous to assume.   The pirate's legacy has already been etched in your history. 

John Edward Titschke (Teache, Thatch), Blackbeard, was the first distinguished tar heel to appreciate and distribute a true democratic social virtue in the new country. Titschke was the father of the moral tenet, love thy neighbor first and this was surely an admirable mercy, significantly representing the compassion of Titschke the pirate.  

Should historians have characterized Blackbeard, although not a politician by summons, but as one foremost in the state’s history to domesticate a true democratic republic, embellishing its non-discriminating, larger-than-life and immeasurable rewards to the people upon the sandy beaches of North Carolina, being welcomed reverently as a genuine tar heel.

The legacy of having an accurate chronicle satisfies this seventh great grandson of John Edward Titschke (Teache, Thatch), the pirate, and John Michel Giessiebel (see Kiessiebel).

The humble, sometimes pathetic, beginnings of our forefathers should be remembered. they all endured ethnic hatred and presumable early colonial slavery while in bondage to the George Ritter Company as tenants for the English Crown’s instituted royal colonial plantations in the new country. They all courageously endured to a sustainable pinnacle, incessantly building the consecrated paths to the liberated freedoms we as Americans enjoy today.

The reader will be vested with the German colony’s secrets and the unimaginable distant past of which the Teachers had no enlightenment. consequently they were unable to accurately educate their students about this chapter in North Carolina's history. this writing does influence the history of North Carolina and the town of New Bern; however, it will measure little significant impact overall. The rationale of it being accepted in a friendly manner, even though Titschke's activities were a consequence of the desolation that had befallen the Palatine people, still the voracity of his piracy activity was construed hitherto politically incorrect.  

Most New Bernians already know about the pirate, Edward Titschke (Teache). the pirate Blackbeard really was an intricate part of the town’s rich history and he really was my seventh great grandfather. the question has now everlastingly been laid to rest: the legendary tales were all true and John Edward Titschke (Teache), the famed pirate, was not a barbarian from Bristol, England, he was the state’s Blackbeard and the mischievous pirate who truly was a genuine Robin Hood for Baron De Graffenreid’s deserted New Bern colony.

This etching in your history was the inauguration, the absolute threshold of North Carolina’s historic beginning and we should be respectably proud of that distinguishing legacy.

Did past historians neglect to record Titschke’s significant impact upon the history of the State of North Carolina and especially New Bern? We believe so. The supplemental history divulges answers to the previously eerie, clandestine queries of ancient times past about the rowdy buccaneers and peerless politicians. It also reveals the undisclosed metaphoric relationship between "Queen Anne’s Revenge" and the historic town of New Bern.

Te supplemental writing barely blemishes the sparkling, charming antiquity of the splendid old town. Notwithstanding, it would be favorable to commemorate the complete historic era, the early, ferocious, bygone, and realistic history as well as the effervescent, grandeur,  beauty of the grand old town of New Bern.

“Yes! This is, without doubt, the way it was way back when pirates and politicians really did rule the province and each performed the intricate needs of the fragile colony for the survival of its inhabitants.” The collective endeavors of pirates as well as the politicians, who actually solicited and offered the pirates bounty rewards for their booty, was a profession for their survival in the new world to be called America.  The historic chronicles only reflect the views of the survivors of this era of New Bern’s history! 

 You can now enjoy the entirety of your town's magnificent history.

This publication is now available upon request during New Bern's Tri-centennial Celebration from a confirmed living descendant of the pirate John Edward Titschke (Teache) and John Michel Giessiebel (Kiessiebel), two original De Graffenreid colonists and amongst the first to our shore.